Over one thousand cult members operating and causing havoc in Ebonyi State said they had given their lives to Christ as they renounced membership of cult groups.

Their decision came after the state Governor David Umahi and traditional rulers of Ezza Ezekuna gave a seven-day grace to them to denounce their membership or face generation curses.

The Special Assistant to Ebonyi State Government on Internal Security, Hon. Saint Nchekube Anako, made this known in an interview with Tribune Online, on Thursday, while debunking the rumour that the state Governor David Umahi still appoints cult members in his cabinet.

According to him, the vision of the governor is to make Ebonyi State the best state in Nigeria in term of security.

His words: “Before we were inaugurated, there were activities of cultism in the state, shooting here and there. The governor determined to flush cultism out of the state, and engaged four Special Assistants on security to collaborate with the security agencies to do all they can to make sure they stop this activity of cultism.

“Recently, so many people through the efforts of the governor have renounced their membership of cult groups, over 1,000 of them at Christ Embassy Church, and it is an ongoing process in many churches today. It is a thing of glory that people are renouncing cultism and giving their lives to Christ.

“I cannot believe that anybody from Ebonyi will accuse the governor of appointing cult members into his cabinet. I want it to be on record that so far so good, there is no Exco member selected so far that is a cultist because every appointee is screened and the governor did all he could to make sure that no cultist made his second-term cabinet,” Nchekube said.

He further noted that he, alongside other security colleagues, they have carried out campaigns against cultism to various secondary schools.

According to him, many that engaged in the activities did not join because they know what they are going to meet in the group, but out of ignorance.

He then described Umahi as highly passionate, and commended him for initiating the crusade to reach out to the leaders of tomorrow.

“The way cultism is celebrated here is not what it should be. Cultism is like a cankerworm that has eaten deep in the society and that is why the governor is determined to stop everything about cultism in the state.

“It is said that an uninformed generation is a lost generation. We have been visiting secondary schools in the state to educate them on the implication or risk of cultism so that they can disassociate themselves from it and this effort has yielded magnificent results because since a few weeks now, there has not been any shooting in the capital city.

“The reason of going to schools to preach against cultism is that without these youths the big ones cannot operate and that is what we are doing to uproot them from their roots by discouraging the young ones from being initiated.

Meanwhile, Nchekube called on investors to come and tap from the abundant mineral resources the state is blessed with. (Nigerian Tribune)